Gunboats balance

[mjolnir]

[sarcasm] I entered the age of Gunboat whoring [/sarcasm]

Not really... but after 10 months on the server I took my time to test all gunboats properly. Here I'm listing the gunboats that I see as not well balanced against other ones as well as reasons why I think so.

I'm not talking about GBs vs other ship balance, which I personally believe is a bit off and should be balanced by lowering GB power supply.

Please all of you who pilot GBs come with own assessments and try to keep the "me flies it so it must be uber" attitude out.

Thank you

Some terms:
"agility" - ability to dodge/rapidly change direction
"turning rate" - how fast it turns when you e-kill and turn

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BHG Gunship

Armor: 55 k
Bats/bots: 250
gun/turrets: 0/6 ( all of them forward)
cargo space: 280
max. angular: 0.72 (doesn't reflect handling)

Problems

- agility better than some bombers and much better than nearest GB (Lane Hacker)
- size smaller than some bombers and half the nearest GB (LH again)
- 6 forward firing turrets

How it affects combat

- Very dangerous to fighters/bombers - almost impossible to hit with SN (when frozen can't hit me with 4/5 SNs in his Catamaran it's almost impossible)

- Quite dangerous against other GBs/capships - as 80% of gunboat survival is in its shield, it can dodge GB/Cruiser fire when shield gets down and then fire (say 4 Cerbs, or some infernos) in short periods, having same firepower as most GBs ( same powersupply and 6 turrets).

What could be changed

It could remain anti-fighter/bomber specialized =>

- One less turret (drop completely or make it rear-only)

and/or

- lower cargo space so that it can't mount any capship armor, without one it dies to 1 SN

Side note:
LH gunship has a bit more armor, but it's much less agile and it's over twice the size of this one, two of its turrets are also forward firing only.

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Orca GB

Armor: 110 k
Bats/bots: 350
gun/turrets: 1/6 (1/5 forward)
max. angular: 0.625 (doesn't reflect handling)

Problems

- the forward firing gun has a firing arc of only some -5 and down, as compared to all other GB that usually have 0 and up.

How it affects combat

If you have a target right in front of you and fire the "forward" gun... you miss :shok:
Because the gun only fires some degrees down.

This and camera position makes it almost impossible to use the forward gun in combat => you rarely turn down.. you can't see enough down because of the ship being at the lower part of the screen, close to the edge.

So for BHG there is virtually no reason to use Orca ( with 5 guns) over the much smaller and more agile Gunship - that is "outdated" and not used (read info card)

What could be changed

- The forward gun should get at least 5 up and down from that firing arc

or (much better)

- it could be placed on the upper side of the mount (in front of the cockpit) giving it same firing arc as other forward guns on GBs. The part that holds the gun can be move a bit down so that the gun doesn't cover view from the cockpit.

Side note:
The infocards on both Orca and the gunship should be changed. One says it's efficient and anti-fighter... and the other one is more efficient and also anti-fighter (with forward gun??)

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Liberty GB

Armor: 110 k
Bats/bots: 350
gun/turrets: 1/7 (1/6 forward)
max. angular: 0.6667 (doesn't reflect handling)

Problems

- 1 more turret than comparable GBs:
Kusari GB which has comparable size while being only slightly more agile(actually 2 more than that one). Rhienland GB which is much slower and bigger and Dragon GB which is much slower and bigger.

How it affects combat

It is very difficult to hit with Supernova from any angle and it's small compared with other GBs while it has more guns.


What could be changed

- drop one of the forward firing turrets.

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The Gunboats under here I see as generally balanced, just adding my comments on these 3 as they are very popular

Corsair GB

Armor: 115 k
Bats/bots: 350
gun/turrets: 0/8
max. angular: 0.5 (doesn't reflect handling)

Comments

Yes it has more turrets than anything else... but it's slow and easy to CD its turns . Extremely easy to hit with a Supernova, or to kill with 2 fighters. So it's basically anti-cap GB.

Rogue GB

Armor: 95 k
Bats/bots: 350
gun/turrets: 0/6 (0/6 forward)
max. angular: 0.65 (doesn't reflect handling)

Comments

Relatively small, though easier to hit than a liberty GB, good dodging. Turrets have nicely limited firing arcs.

IMG GB

Armor: 95 k
Bats/bots: 350
gun/turrets: 0/6
max. angular: 0.65 (doesn't reflect handling)

Comments

Flat (hard to hit)... and quite agile... maybe should lose some 5k armor.

The main problem is that many people abuse it as a "civilian" GB...so you meet all from Order, Junkers, BHG and mercs in it. Maybe move it to IMG guard system?
EDIT: That means removing it from Kurile, I know it's already in Tau 44.

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Igiss says: Martin, you give them a finger, they bite off your arm.